{"nrhp_refnum":"05000642","name":"Carl's","other_names":["Carl's Custard Stand","Vdhr # 111-5007"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2200 Princess Anne St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fredericksburg (Independent City)","county":"Fredericksburg","state":"VA","lat":38.23468606400007,"lon":-77.46595839199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story Art Moderne ice cream stand at 2200 Princess Anne Street in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. Contractor Ashton Skinner built the present building in 1953; the business began in 1947 on the same site.","why_significant":"The stand is argued to be significant under Criterion A for its link to the growth of automobile-oriented commercial strips along major roads such as Princess Anne Street (US Route 1). It is also significant under Criterion C as a highly intact Art Moderne roadside building with a projecting marquee and neon signage. It remains a social and economic fixture of the community.","narrative":"Carl's is a small, white-stuccoed ice cream stand on Princess Anne Street in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. Carl Sponseller opened it as Carl's Frozen Custard in April 1947, using an abandoned gas station and restaurant on the lot. In 1953 contractor Ashton Skinner built the present Art Moderne building of stucco-covered cinderblock, one story high with a flat roof that projects as a marquee over a walk-up counter. Two V-shaped neon signs, designed by Sponseller and topped with a tilted cone, rise from the roof. Inside, three Electro-Freeze machines from the 1940s remain in use. The property is significant as an example of the roadside commerce that grew up along major highways as the automobile reshaped American life, and for its intact architecture. Of six frozen custard stands opened in the area in 1947, it was the only one to last, and it continues to serve as a community gathering place.","period_of_significance":"1947-1953","architect_builder":"Ashton Skinner, Contractor","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Moderne (Art Moderne); Other: Modernistic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still operating as a retail ice cream stand on a February-through-November schedule, with few changes since 1953; exterior and interior remain highly intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.86275-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/61/6808/41680861/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/05000642.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000642/00d7674549-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000642/00d7674549-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bsteckler","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carls_Ice_Cream.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Bsteckler</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carls_Ice_Cream.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680861","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl%27s_Ice_Cream","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5039744"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/fredericksburg/carls-05000642/"}